Quiet

This week has been so very quiet.  Ms. D is not a noisy child.  She likes to paint, draw, write and read.  We had an "out day" on Monday, and will have another one tomorrow, but really she's just as happy to stay home.

Last week I thought I had a quiet house with just E1....but he likes to play video games, and watch videos and such, so there was at least background noise.   This week is different, quieter.

Yet I know the quiet I have now will be nothing like when school starts in August.  My baby boy, Si Guy will be going full day this year, since it's all they have for first grade.  I have not been home alone for an entire day in almost fifteen years.  I'm not quite sure what I'll do with myself.

I imagine I will have less time than I think, once I add in some gym time, the volunteer positions I've chosen to retain.  I will work harder at getting the household errands done while my husband is working, so our evenings can be sort of free...as free as they can be with ballet, football, and such.  Maybe I'll even be a better housekeeper?  I doubt it.  Editing my novel, or starting a second one has more appeal than that.

The real question that looms is should I go back to school, or get a job?  Probably not this year.   This year has enough new school beginnings with the children.  Besides the big switch for Si, E1 will be starting middle school, and our oldest son will be a freshman at my Alma Mater...twenty years after I graduated.  The river of time never stops, does it?

Happy Fathers Day!

   I know I just wrote a post about Mr. Man, but it is Father's Day....and if there is one reason why I will love this man until I cease to have breath and beyond it's because of what he does with our children.  A lot of people react to the size of our family with a "What?  How do you do it?"  Pretty much every time my answer is the same.  "Because I have an amazing, involved husband.  A good man makes all the difference."

Mr. Man is very involved in our kids lives.  Besides the standard "dad" stuff like teaching our kids how to grill and camping and playing video games with them he does many more things.  

• He's in charge of bedtime for the littles nightly.   Because of his example, the older boys have no problem reading stories and tucking in on his basketball night.
• He does laundry and dishes.  This frees up sooo much of my day for the running of the household and leaves me time to do the "fun stuff" with the kids while he's at work.
• This year he worked from home when I had obligations at the school, so I wouldn't have to worry about our half day kindie.
• He is the go-to math tutor for the older kids.  He is so patient!
• He is our family tech support.
• He is my rock, my reassurance, and my sounding board so I can be a better parent.

 He does more too, just instinctively he knows what our family needs.  I thank God for my husband every day.  Happy Fathers Day and every day Mr. Man.  I couldn't do what I do without you.

Mr. Man is 44! (Yesterday.)

Happy Birthday to him!
He went to work.  He grilled pork chops for dinner.  He played basketball.  A pretty typical Thursday.
We had cake.  A chocolate-cherry dump cake made w/ a home-made "pie filling" because I don't do the canned stuff.  It was all I had time for, since we have VBS this week.  (THAT, hopefully, will be a post of it's own later.)

He was good with it.  We'll do something later this summer for our "birthaversarry."  Since his birthday is in June, mine is around Labor Day, and we were married in July it's not unusual for us to combine it all into one "thing" as far as the gift element goes.  We will have a date night soon, very soon, for the individual event.

So, what makes Mr. Man so darn special.

• He does everything he does with his full attention at that moment
• He loves his God and his family unconditionally
• We enjoy the same food style
• We enjoy the same sports (even if we have different favorite teams)
• He is my back-up whenever needed for whatever reason.
• He is human valium.
• He knows how to lead without the follower knowing they are being led
• He knows when we're due for a moment of the unexpected.
• His facial expressions.  They are a language of their own
• He is content with who he is.

And of course, because he has no idea how amazing he really is.  He just keeps on  keeping on, without taking a pause to think about it.  That's part of why I love his birthday.  It gives me an
"appropriate" occasion to remind him.

Sorry sir, you're birthday blog is late just like everything else this year.

As of yesterday afternoon, two teenagers now reside in my home.  What did we get the kid for the big 13?
So far a week of helping with three year olds, and an eighty-two cent drink at his bowling league.
I baked him a gluten and dairy free birthday cake too.
Fortunately, the teachers in my preschool department at VBS are some awesome people.  Both the one in the room he works in, and one of the others gave him a card with $5 in it.  $10 in cash made his birthday awesome, along with free reign over the family computer when he was home...and that eighty-two cent drink.  It really doesn't take much to make this kid happy, just attention....lots and lots of attention.  If he's noticed and appreciated, he feels pretty loved.  It's a good thing.  If his love language was "gifts" he'd be screwed.

In all seriousness, E1 has grown leaps and bounds this year.    He has more patience with people.   He's found a sense of optimism.  He's become more comfortable in his skin and with his gifts.  He handles change better.  This is good, because that occasional crack in his voice reminds us all what big changes are probably right around the corner.

He's also learned to wait.  He has no problem waiting until Friday to get his "real" gift, and sometime next week for his "special" activity, but he definitely appreciated the eighty-two cents I spent on HIS day to show I remembered.